fast and curious

March 2016

So my Michigan State pick was... unfortunate. That's OK. Even if I won't win anything with my March Madness bracket, I can still use the bracket to make a new puzzle this week. And that's what I'm going to do.

I'm going to drown my sorrows in making puzzles. My nerdiness is a problem.

Unscramble these phrases to find team names in the NCAA tournament this year. And just like in the real bracket, Michigan State doesn't show up!

March Madness has taken over the Curious offices. We've printed out our brackets and taped them to the wall, circling the correct picks, and slashing in red ink the incorrect ones. I picked Michigan State to win the whole tournament, so I'm feeling pretty good about mine. Great pick, right?

In the spirit of the madness, break out your bracket try this brain teaser.

Jody had to go out of town for the first weekend of the NCAA tournament so missed all the games. Not wanting to miss out on the action, she asked if there were any great upsets she missed. Katrina told her:

#15 University of Work beat #2 Aesthetic State University, 78-75

#10 College of Music beat #2 Play University, 65-56

#11 Humanities State beat #4 Institute of STEM, 66-64

#9 Mind&Body Polytechnic beat #1 Relationships A&M, 83-82

Of course, Jody was having none of it and she knew Katrina was lying. How did she know?

Every week, I come up with a Thai's Teaser. Sometimes, it comes easily because something is going on in the news that just screams "Puzzle!", like Leap Day or primary election season. (What? That doesn't scream "Puzzle" to you?)

Other times... well... I get a wicked case of puzzlers' block, and no amount of caffeine will help. But in reality, there are puzzles all around you. You just have to look. And occasionally think outside the box.

So are you ready? Here we go. What's the next number in this sequence?

Did you know today is one of two possible Johnny Appleseed Days? (The other is in September.) We love the magical fruit that keeps the the doctor away, so here are some of our favorite apple-related lessons!

The Academy Awards were last week, but we spent last week noodling over leap years and leap day birthday parties. That's OK; a late Oscar-themed puzzle is better than no puzzle at all! And who knows? Maybe the Oscars are still going; I fell asleep so I'm not sure.

Below are three Best Picture winners, their names scrambled to phrases that have pretty much nothing to do with the movie (well, maybe if you stretch it a bit). All movies are recent (since 2000). After each scrambled title is the number of letters in each word of the real title. Can you figure out the best movie winners?